


Blood Doesn't Make A Bond

by Lilluv



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Child Neglect, F/M, Found Family, Homophobia, M/M, Pansexual Luke Patterson, Pre-Canon, bi reggie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26914402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilluv/pseuds/Lilluv
Summary: Reggie, Alex, and Luke have never had the easiest relationships with their parents, but they only ever really needed each other.
Relationships: Alex/Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 15
Kudos: 209
Collections: Julie and the Phantoms





	1. Reggie

Reggie always knew his family wasn't as, well, normal as other families. His parents were always yelling and screaming at each other, while the other kids in his classes at school were always talking about how great their parents were.

Reggie was always envious of how well off the other kids had it. They always had nicer clothes, nicer shoes, and from what Reggie could tell, nicer families that didn't spend all the time yelling at each other.

Reggie was so busy envying the other kids in grade school that he never actually talked to them, or made friends with them. He would play alone on the swings at recess and spend every afternoon in his room, coloring or listening to music on his boom box when his parents were being loud. He would also escape to the beach and just watch the waves when being in his own house just became too much.

It was a stroke of luck when he found an old bass guitar in the attic of his house. He had never gone up there, and, from what he could tell, neither had his parents. The thing was way too big for him, but he didn't care.

He tried to teach himself how to play. He checked a book out on guitars from the school library, but it didn't talk about bass guitars, so it wasn't very helpful. He eventually swiped his mom's credit card and signed himself up for lessons. He wasn't sure of his mom would do it herself, and Reggie didn't want to risk asking.

So, every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, without fail, Reggie would walk the two-mile walk to his guitar instructor's house and learned how to play his instrument. His parents never said anything about it, so he was pretty sure that they didn't even know he was gone.

In fifth grade, his teacher asked everyone in the class what music class they wanted to take in middle school next year. Reggie was over the moon when he heard there was a band class.

Reggie brought his bass with him on the first day of sixth grade, the most excited that he could remember.

When he walked into the class, Reggie sat down next to a chair with a blue guitar laying across it. When the teacher signaled for the class to start, a boy with shaggy light brown hair and an orange beanie who had previously been talking to the boy at the drum kit sat down in the seat that held the blue guitar.

"Hey," The boy whispered over the teacher towards Reggie. "I'm Luke."

"Reggie." He replied, and they shook hands.

"Is that your bass?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," Reggie replied, blushing a little. Luke's guitar was clearly newer and much nicer than his. "It's kinda old, but-"

"It's super rad." Luke interrupted him. Their conversation must have been getting a little loud because the teacher shot a warning look in their direction.

They played a little in that class, and Luke was good. Like _really_ good.

When the bell rang, Reggie went to leave the room for his lunch period but was stopped by Luke and a blonde boy that Reggie recognized as the drummer.

"Hey, Reggie, wait," Luke said, heaving his backpack on his shoulder as he walked. "This is Alex." He said, gesturing to the blonde.

"Nice to meet you." Alex smiled, and Reggie waved back.

"We were wondering if you wanted to sit with us at lunch?" Luke approached.

Reggie was a little taken aback by Luke's question. No one had ever asked him to sit with them before.

"Sure." Reggie smiled finally.

"Cool," Luke said, slinging his arm over Reggie's shoulder as they left the room.

Luke and Alex accepted Reggie as a friend faster than he could even imagine. He never knew having friends was this awesome. He could go somewhere after school that wasn't his own miserable house, and he actually got to sit with people at lunch rather than sit by himself and get made fun of for it.

The three of them hung out almost every day after school and had jam sessions at least once a week. They always did those at Alex's house because his drums weren't exactly mobile like Reggie and Luke's guitars, and Reggie was happy with that. He didn't want to bring his friends to his house and scare them off with his parents fighting.

His parents only got worse as Reggie got older. They had moved on from fighting about dirty dishes and laundry left in the machine to why Reggie was such a fuckup and why he felt the need to steal his mom's credit card for bass lessons. Reggie was finding himself spending more and more time away from home. Even when he wasn't hanging out with Luke and Alex, which was most of the time, he was out doing something else.

The three of them were having a jam session over at Alex's house one afternoon when Luke brought up a crazy idea.

"We should start a band," Luke said, out of the blue.

"That sounds cool." Alex said, "but can we really start a band just the three of us?"

"Yeah, no trios ever make it." Reggie pointed out.

"Ok, then we'll just look for a fourth member." Luke decided.

It took them a while, but they finally found somebody. At the beginning of ninth grade, a new kid named Bobby who could shred on the rhythm guitar started going to their high school. He was kind of a tool, but they needed a fourth member and he could really play, and his singing voice wasn't half bad either.

They started practicing almost every day in Bobby's garage, which his parents let them turn into a studio for their band.

Reggie started to feel jealous of Bobby's parents. They supported his dreams of becoming a rock star and didn't scream at him when he wasn't getting A's in his classes and actually made him dinner at night, unlike his own parents. But it was ok. Reggie would get over it.

It took them a while to figure out a name for their band. They threw around a bunch of ideas until finally setting on Sunset Curve when they were all sitting on the beach at sunset and the name just came to them (Bobby liked Sunset Swerve better, but he got outvoted).

Reggie didn't tell his parents about his band. Why should he? That would just be one more thing for them to ruin. They seemed to do that to everything in Reggie's life without really trying. There was a reason he never brought his friends around his house. He just didn't need it.

There was one night when the fighting got really bad. Reggie could hear every word that they were screaming at each other and they were throwing plates. Reggie had tears streaming down his face and flinched every time a plate smashed.

It got to the point where Reggie just couldn't take it anymore. He just needed to get out of there.

He opened the window and climbed out, thanking God that his bedroom was on the first floor. At first, he didn't know where to go, because he didn't want to tell anyone about why he snuck out in the middle of the night with tears running down his face.

He decided to go to the studio. He figured no one would be out there at this time of night since Luke and Alex would be at home and Bobby and his parents would be asleep.

He got to the studio and climbed up to the loft where Bobby's parents stored extra pillows and blankets and made himself a makeshift bed up there and fell asleep peacefully for the first time that he could remember.

Reggie sneaking out started to become a regular occurrence. He was pretty sure his parents never noticed. Even if they did, they didn't say anything. He would stay in the loft at least once or twice a week so he could get a good night's sleep and not have to listen to his parents scream at each other all night.

* * *

When Alex came out, Reggie was really happy for him. He didn't care who his friends loved just so long as they were happy.

He was having a harder time at home, though. He started sneaking out at least twice a week and sleeping in the loft in the studio so he could just get away from his parents. There were a few times he saw Luke and Alex come in and just make out for a while or watch a movie or something, but he just turned the other way and didn't let them know he was there. They would tell him about them when he was ready and he didn't want to intrude.

Seeing them together left Reggie lying awake many late nights and wonder whether he liked guys, too. It was very confusing for a long time, but he eventually came to the decision that he liked guys and girls, even if there wasn't a name for it. But he didn't have to tell everyone yet. He could keep it to himself for a while.

By the end of their sophomore year, Reggie was only sending about one night a week at home when his dad didn't come home. There was no fighting those nights, but it was pretty bad when he came back. Reggie was always out of the house before then, though.

The first night after school ended, he walked to the studio with a backpack on and found Luke and Alex cuddling on the couch, Alex with tears on his face. They explained how Alex came out to his parents that night and it didn't go well. No one mentioned why they were cuddling, despite the fact that they never told him they were together.

When questioned about his backpack, Reggie explained about his folks fighting, and Alex and Luke took it really well.

The three of them spent the night in the studio and started practice early the next day. It became kind of like a routine for them over the summer, except Luke spent most of his nights at home. He was spending nights there more and more often as the summer went on, though, Reggie noticed.

That summer, they played gigs everywhere. It felt like they had one every other night. They all loved performing and how much time they could put into the band when they didn't have school to think about.

By the end of the summer, Reggie was pretty much living at the studio full-time and was home only once every few weeks to get clothes or something. He really liked hanging out with his friends all day and night. It was kind of like an endless sleepover. Reggie tried to leave for a few hours each day, though, to give Luke and Alex some alone time. He felt like he was third-wheeling all the time, despite the fact that they insisted he wasn't and that they wanted him there. He would just go hang out at the beach and watch the water or something. It was really relaxing.

* * *

One night, right before the start of school, Reggie snuck back home to get clothes and some books. He was alone when he got there, but while he was in his room, both of his parents showed up and started fighting. Reggie tried to leave through the window, but it was stuck and wouldn't open. He walked out of his room and through the hall, hoping that his parents wouldn't see him on his way out. He was sorely mistaken.

"Where do you think you're going?" His mom asked as he passed them.

Reggie considered just ignoring her and walking out without saying anything, but he decided against it.

"My friend Bobby's house. Where I've been all summer." Reggie answered.

"What do you mean?" His dad asked. "You've been here all summer."

Reggie started laughing. it was involuntary, at first, then he just kept going. His parents looked confused and angry, so he started to explain.

"You really didn't notice?" Reggie asked. He could feel tears starting to fall down his cheeks. He had stopped laughing once the initial hilarity of it all wore off, and now he was just upset. "You didn't notice that I've only been home like, what, three times this summer? That half the clothes in my room are gone? That my guitar is gone? If you knew anything about me, you would know I don't go anywhere without that thing. But I guess you guys really don't know me at all."

Reggie stormed out without another word, leaving his parents shocked and speechless behind him. He cried for the entire walk to the studio, where he found Alex and Luke sitting on the couch.

"They didn't even notice I was gone," Reggie said as he walked in and sat down on the empty section of the couch. "I've slept at home like three times all summer and they thought I was there the whole time. They didn't even notice I was gone."

Reggie felt more tears falling down his face, and his friends pulled him into a hug.

School started, and life went back to normal. By the time Christmas rolled around, all three of them were living in the studio full-time.

And on New Years Day, they got the best news of their lives. They were going to play at the Orpheum.

They spent the whole next month rehearsing during every spare moment they had. All four of their grades were slipping a little bit, but none of them cared. They were playing the Orpheum!

About a week before their performance, Alex and Luke broke up. They swore it was a mutual thing and that they decided they were just better as friends, but things were a little awkward for a few days. By the time the day of their performance rolled around, though, everything seemed to be back to normal.

Reggie was over the moon that night at soundcheck. All of them were. That was the best the band had ever played. Reggie rode that high by flirting with their fans and grabbing street dogs with his best friends. Little did he know that those were the last street dogs they would ever eat.


	2. Alex

Alex grew up in a very religious household. Church every Sunday, Sunday school with Pastor Tony, Wednesday night services, playing drums with his dad in the Church band (his dad started teaching him to play before he could even walk), Bible camps over the summer... you name it, Alex did it.

Alex never really had a problem with it. He didn't love how much of his time it took up, but it's not like he didn't like church. He found it comforting.

The one thing that Alex had a problem with, though, was that his parents didn't want him being friends with anyone who didn't go to their church, so that excluded his two best friends (were they still his best friends if Alex didn't really have any other friends? It didn't matter) Luke and Reggie.

Alex and Luke met in kindergarten when their teacher sat them next to each other on the first day. His parents didn't hate Luke in the beginning, but as he got older and more mischievous, they started to disapprove more and more.

They met Reggie in middle school. He was in their band class, and Luke sat next to him in the guitar section. Reggie was quickly introduced to Alex, and their duo quickly became a trio.

Reggie and Luke were constantly getting in trouble and getting detentions, which Alex's parents hated. They forbade him from hanging out with them, but he did anyway. Who else was he going to hang out with? The kids from church that he never got the courage to talk to? No way.

* * *

Alex first heard the word 'homosexual' at Sunday school. The pastor was reading a Bible verse when the word came up, and he had never heard it before. But, when he said the word, no one in the class seemed to be able to look at each other.

After class, Alex went up to the pastor.

"Excuse me, Pastor Tony?" Alex said as the room emptied out.

"Yes, Alex?" Pastor Tony replied, smiling sweetly at him.

"The word homosexual..." Alex started, but he saw the pastor physically cringe when he said the word. "I've never heard it before. What does it mean?"

"Well, son," Pastor Tony said, putting his hand on Alex's shoulder. "All you need to know is that it's a sin that one never recovers from."

"But-" Alex tried, but was cut off.

"Have a good day, Alex." Pastor Tony said, leaving the room swiftly.

After church, Alex went to the library and looked up the word 'homosexual' in the dictionary. All it meant was that you were attracted to the same gender instead of the opposite. Alex started to think back about his life. He never really found any interest in girls the way Luke and Reggie did, and the thought of kissing one grossed him out. But the thought of kissing a boy... it seemed kind of appealing.

Alex started to worry after that. Could he be gay? He didn't want to be a sinner, but sometimes he just couldn't help it. If he wanted to kiss boys instead of girls... he didn't know what to do.

So, he just tried to live as normally as possible. He went to school, went to church, hung out with Luke and Reggie, had jam sessions with them when his parents weren't home. When Luke floated the idea of starting a band, all of them were on board. They just needed a fourth member.

Eventually, they found Bobby. He was a good guitarist. But not much of anything else. He was just not a great guy. But he let the band, Sunset Curve, practice in his garage, so it was ok.

A few weeks after starting the band, Alex had started to come to terms with the fact that he was probably gay. How did he know? Well, he was kind of embarrassed to admit it, but it was Luke. He had a crush on Luke and was pretty sure he had one for a while. He finally understood what they were talking about when his friends talked about girls. His heart would flutter whenever he heard Luke sing. But, Luke was straight. Nothing would ever happen between them.

Eventually, Alex got tired of keeping it a secret. He didn't one hundred percent accept himself yet, but he figured if his friends supported him he might get one step closer to feeling better about himself.

"Hey, guys?" Alex approached after practice one day while everyone was packing up. "I need to tell you all something."

"What's up, Alex?" Luke said, not really paying attention.

"It's kind of serious," Alex said, grabbing the attention of Reggie and Luke, who lightly punched Bobby's arm, making him pay attention.

Alex took a deep breath. He knew this was going to be hard, but now under his friend's gazes, he just wasn't sure he could do it.

"Never mind," Alex muttered, looking down at the floor.

"Alex," Luke started, "you don't have to tell us if you don't want to, but I hope you know you can tell us anything."

Alex nodded and took another deep breath. "Ok, I can do this." He looked at Luke's supportive gaze and finally said the words out loud for the first time. "I'm gay."

Luke didn't even miss a beat. He just walked up to Alex and pulled him into a hug, and Reggie joined him a moment later.

"Thank you for telling us," Luke said, and Alex smiled.

Bobby hung back a little bit, looking kind of uncomfortable, but when Alex looked at him, he smiled. Sort of. Alex didn't really care what Bobby thought, anyway. All he needed was his best friend's approval and he was happy.

About a month later, he and Luke were hanging out together in Luke's room. They had a big test to study for in their biology class, so they decided to do it together.

They were both sitting on his bed, just close enough for their fingers to touch. If Alex was telling the truth, he wasn't getting much studying done. He could only think about how Luke's hand was touching his. It's not that it hasn't happened before, they had been friends since grade school, after all, but today it was just different for some reason.

He kept sneaking glances at Luke, who he swore darted his eyes back down to his book every time Alex looked up, though he could have just been imagining things.

At one point, Luke tried to get up but slipped and fell so he was lying flat on the bed. Alex wordlessly tried to help him up, but they ended up with their faces just barely an inch apart. They stayed like that for a moment, unsure of what to do, then they closed the space between them and pressed their lips together. Alex wasn't sure who started the kiss, but he was sure he never wanted it to end.

After a few moments, he came to his senses and pulled away. "Wait wait wait." He said, "What is this?"

"What do you mean?" Luke asked, running his fingers through his hair.

"You're not gay." Alex pointed out. "Are you? Because if this is just you experimenting with your gay friend-"

"It's not, Alex," Luke interjected, shutting Alex up. "I really like you. Like in a romantic way."

"So you're gay?" Alex asked again.

"No, I'm bisexual," Luke said simply. "I like guys and girls."

Alex smiled. He couldn't remember the last time he was this happy. The guy that he's had a crush on since forever actually liked him back.

"So are you gonna kiss me, or what?" Luke asked. They both laughed and leaned back in and kissed again.

* * *

Luke told Alex that he didn't care who they told about their relationship, but Alex wasn't ready to tell people. He hadn't come out to his parents yet, and he wanted to do that first.

Alex was kinda dreading that, though. He knew his parents were homophobic and wouldn't love the idea of him being gay, but they always said they would love him unconditionally, so he was banking on that being true.

He and Luke started sneaking around all the time, though. They would drive out of the city for dates so no one recognized them, they would sneak into the studio at night and just kiss for a long time or cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie.

As much as Alex loved sneaking around with Luke, he knew he needed to come out to his parents at some point.

"I just don't know what to do, Luke," Alex said one night while they were hanging out alone in the studio. They had been together for about a year now and were approaching the end of their sophomore year. "I know my parents aren't going to like it, but I need to tell them at some point. I feel like every time I see them it's just a weight I really want lifted."

"I'm not going to rush you, Alex," Luke said. "But I think you'll feel better once you tell them, no matter how they react."

Deep down, Alex knew that Luke was right. So, on the night after the last day of school, he decided to just go for it at dinner. He and his family were sitting down to eat when Alex brought it up.

"Mom, Dad?" Alex said once everyone was sitting.

"Yes, dear?" Alex's mom replied, not looking up from her food.

Alex wasn't going to wait around like he did with his friends over a year ago. He just needed to get it out or he was never going to say it. "I'm gay."

Both of them put down their forks and looked at him with confused and dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

"I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong. What did you say?" Alex's dad said, clearly in disbelief.

"I'm gay," Alex repeated, more confident this time.

"No, you're not." His dad said. "I won't allow it."

"This isn't something I can change about myself," Alex said. He looked over at his mom, and he could see tears in her eyes.

"If you're going to insist on being a sinner, you're not going to do it in this house." His dad said simply. "Change your mind, or pack your bags and get out."

Alex sat there for a minute, then got up from the table and walked to his room. He quickly packed as much as he could into his backpack, tears running down his face the entire time. He ran out of the house without another word to his parents.

He walked to the studio, and it was pitch black by the time he got there. Luke was waiting for him on the couch. They knew Alex coming out probably wasn't going to go well, so Luke decided he would wait in the garage in case of the worst.

Alex walked in with tears running down his face, and Luke wordlessly got up and pulled his boyfriend into a hug. Alex collapsed into him and just cried for a while. Luke whispered reassurances in his ear, but he couldn't really hear them. He was just too upset.

When Alex finally calmed down, Luke led him over to the couch. They sat down and Alex put his head on his boyfriend's shoulder and took his hand in his.

"You don't have to talk about it," Luke said.

"I want to," Alex replied, and Luke squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I told them, then they said I couldn't live there if I was going to be an abomination." Alex felt more tears running down his face.

Luke kissed the top of his head and turned on the TV to give him a distraction. Alex was grateful for it.

While they were watching TV, the door opened and Reggie, who was wearing a backpack, walked inside.

"Hey, Reg," Luke said. "What's up?"

Reggie ignored the question. "Alex, are you ok?" He asked.

"I don't know." He replied.

"He came out to his parents tonight and it didn't go well," Luke explained.

"I'm so sorry, man," Reggie said, dropping down his backpack on the floor and sitting down on the chair next to the couch.

"What's the backpack for, Reg?" Luke asked, and Reggie glanced down at it.

"Umm..." He said, "I was gonna stay here tonight."

"What's wrong with your place?" Alex asked.

Reggie sighed. "My parents are fighting. Like, loud screaming at each other fighting. It's been happening a lot lately, so I've been spending some of my nights here."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Luke asked.

"I didn't want to bother you with it." He explained.

"You can tell us anything, Reg," Alex said, and Luke agreed.

They all watched TV for the rest of the night then slept there at the studio.

* * *

That summer was the best Alex could remember. Since he had a completely clear schedule, he put all of his time into the band and his relationship with Luke.

At the end of the summer, their lives when pretty much back to normal. School, practice, sleep, repeat. It was hard to get any homework done while living in a garage with his two best friends who were always goofing off any never really cared about schoolwork, but he managed.

* * *

Luke running away from home just before Christmas was really hard on him. He talked about dropping out to put all his time into the band, but Alex wouldn't let him. He needed to be around people, and being alone all day in the garage while his friends were at school was the last thing he needed in this state.

Getting the Orpheum gig really lifted his spirits, though. He really got back to his usual self. Alex guessed that was when he started to realize the spark between them had burned out.

So, they broke up. It was mutual. They just wanted to go back to being friends without the intimacy.

Their breakup was one week before their gig. It was a little awkward for a few days, but they got back to their usual groove by the day of their gig.

The last thing they thought would happen last night is die from some bad street dogs.


	3. Luke

Luke was always a rowdy child. He was always getting in trouble at school for drawing on tables when he got over-enthusiastic while coloring or would play a little too rough on the playground. His parents were never happy when he got in trouble, but they weren't exactly mad. That is unless he dragged his best friend Alex down with him.

By the fourth grade, Luke's parents had become fed up with getting calls from the school every other day about how Luke was misbehaving, so they decided they needed to find him an outlet to get his energy out.

They signed him up for every sport they could think of - Baseball, soccer, touch football, karate, ice hockey, track... Luke got kicked out of all of them for being too violent and/or too loud.

One day, though, Luke was singing along to a song on the radio with his parents in the car, and they decided they should sign him up for music lessons.

They brought Luke to a music store and let him pick out an instrument, as long as he promised he would actually learn to play. He picked out a dark blue guitar. It was way too big for him at the time, but he insisted he wanted that one and not one of the kid-sized ones.

He was a natural. He loved going to lessons every week, and they even bumped him up to two lessons a week because he loved it so much.

Luke was getting really good by the time he started middle school. That's when he and Alex met Reggie and accepted him into their group.

It was also around then that Luke started to realize he wasn't exactly straight. He knew he wasn't gay, he definitely liked girls, but sometimes he would find himself staring at a cute guy for a little bit longer than any straight guy would.

He confided in his mom about it (she was always advocating for gay rights so he knew she would accept him no matter who he loved). She said there was this term called 'bisexual', which meant that someone liked both boys and girls. He decided he liked that.

After meeting Reggie, the two of them started getting into trouble all over school. They would be late to class or mess around somewhere they definitely should not have been. After getting roped into Luke's schemes in elementary school, Alex avoided him as much as possible when he could tell he was in a mischievous mood. His parents were super strict and he didn't feel like getting grounded all the time.

Eventually Luke and Reggie toned it down because he decided to start a band with his friends. He knew his parents would never let him do it if he was still getting in trouble all the time.

Alex and Reggie suggested the find a fourth member, and Luke begrudgingly agreed. Reggie was right, after all - no trios ever make it.

It took them a while to find Bobby, but he was new at their school in their freshman year of high school and was in their band class. He played a solo on his first day and the three of them all decided they needed him in their band. They asked him at lunch that day, and he accepted their offer. He even let them practice in their garage.

They quickly found out Bobby was kind of a douche, but they were glad they had a fourth member. They could ditch him once they made it big if they wanted to, anyway.

* * *

Alex coming out was kind of a shock to Luke, but not a bad one. He was really happy for him, and to tell the truth, he had a little bit of a crush on Alex. Luke usually didn't go for blondes, but Alex was just so sweet.

Luke kinda wanted to ask him out, but he didn't want to ruin the band dynamic if Alex said no or if they broke up or something.

But one night while they were studying in Luke's room, they ended up kissing, and it was kind of amazing. The two of them started spending as much time together as possible.

Pretty much any time alone that Luke had, he was working on stuff for the band. He would write songs, come up with rehearsal schedules, try to get them as many gigs as possible.

Their first gig was Bobby's mom's book club. It was kind of lame, but they still got to play in front of real people, so it was great. All of the ladies seemed to enjoy it. And the snacks were rad. Soon they started playing whenever they could, wherever they could. It was exhausting, but it was exactly what they needed to do to get to the top.

Since Luke was spending most of his time either with Alex or working on the band, his grades were starting to slip. His parents were pissed about it. Luke felt like it was a constant fight about what was more important - school or the band. Luke argued that he would never use his high school education, anyway, since he and the band were going to make it big. His parents wanted him to focus on his studies and wait until after graduation to be in the band. He could tell they didn't believe in him or his dream.

At the end of sophomore year when Alex got kicked out, that's when things started to change for the band. Alex was living in the studio (unbeknownst to Bobby's parents), and Reggie was spending most nights there. Luke was there as much as he could be, which caused more fights with his mom, but he didn't care. He just wanted to spend as much time with Alex and the band as possible.

They spent the summer getting more and more well known, and by the time school started again, they were a pretty big name for a couple of high school kids.

But, as the summer went on, Luke and his mom were fighting more and more. Luke had hoped it would get better since he didn't have school to focus on then, but it just got worse. Luke started spending more and more nights at the studio, and he was there most nights by the end of summer.

The first three months of Junior year were a whirlwind of fights with parents and late nights and gigs. Luke was starting to consider dropping out of school to put more time into the band.

Luke floated the idea past his mom a few weeks before Christmas.

"Mom, I want to drop out of school," he said one night out of the blue.

"What for? That stupid band?" She said, already raising her voice.

"It's not stupid!" Luke exclaimed.

"While you live under my roof, you're going to school!" His mom put her foot down - literally.

"Then I guess I don't live under your roof anymore!" Luke said, running into his room and grabbing an old backpack, and shoving in the last few things that he didn't already bring to the studio.

They continued to argue as Luke grabbed his blue hoodie off a chair in the living room and shoving it in his bag, then grabbed his guitar that he had brought along in the vain hope that she would want to hear some of his songs and slung it over his shoulder. he went outside and got on his bike and peddled away as fast as he could without looking back.

* * *

Luke sunk into a bit of a depression after leaving. He tried to drop out of school, but Alex talked him out of it, and Luke knew deep down he was right. So he continued to go.

He put all of his spare time and energy into the band and didn't really start to feel like himself again until they got the gig at the Orpheum on New Years.

Once Luke was feeling like himself again, he started to realize that his relationship was a little... weird. Luke had always been a very physical person, so he would just casually sling his arm over his friend's shoulders or cuddle with them on the couch without it meaning anything. And it just gotten to that point with Alex. It didn't really mean anything to Luke anymore. Not like it did when they first got together over a year ago. It was like the fire had burned out.

One day, a week before their Orpheum gig, Alex and Luke found themselves alone in the studio.

"So, we should talk," Luke and Alex said at the same time. They both laughed in an empty kind of way, then sat down on either end of the couch, facing each other.

They sat there in awkward silence for a moment, neither of them knowing how to start the conversation.

"I think we should break up," Luke said out of the blue. He didn't mean to be so direct (or hurtful to Alex), but he just didn't know what else to say.

"Me, too," Alex said simply, surprising Luke.

"You do?" He asked.

"Yeah," Alex replied. "It just feels like we're better as friends."

"Yes, exactly." Luke agreed, smiling a little. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his best friend in any way.

They sat there silently for a minute again before Alex said, "Let's not make this awkward."

"Yeah." Luke agreed. They both stood up and hugged, then moved on with their lives.

What Luke didn't know at that moment was that his life would be cut short right before his dream came true.


	4. Family

Reggie loved being a ghost. He could make his bass appear whenever he wanted, he didn't need to worry about his parent's fighting, he got to spend eternity with his best friends, he got to hang out with Ray and Carlos, who were the super cool dad and brother he never got, and he got to meet Julie and start a band with her. That was his favorite part.

After everything with Caleb, it was nice to relax and just hang out with his friends with no worries of being erased from existence. It was also pretty cool to figure out more about his ghost powers. Not only could he teleport and make lifers see him when he's performing, but he learned how to make himself visible to lifers he had a connection with for periods of time if he really focused on it.

Which was how he ended up hanging out with Flynn and Julie in Flynn's room while they were doing each other's makeup and nails.

Reggie thought that doing his nails would be cool, but he had only ever seen girls do it. Besides, he didn't even know how to, anyway.

He saw Julie doing a cool color pattern on her hands. Her thumb and index fingers were pink, middle finger was purple, and ring and pinkie fingers were blue.

"That's a cool pattern," Reggie commented.

"It's the bisexual flag," Julie said.

"Bisexual? What's that?" Reggie asked.

"It means that I like guys and girls," Julie explained.

Reggie's eyes went wide. "There's a word for that?"

"Yep," Julie smiled, and Reggie was silent for a moment.

"I think I'm bisexual," Reggie said, and Flynn and Julie smiled.

"Thank you for trusting us enough to tell us," Flynn said, and Julie nodded.

"Can I have my nails like that?" Reggie asked sheepishly.

"Sure," Julie smiled, getting the oink, blue, and purple bottles and starting to color his nails.

When Julie finished, she said, "Ok, you can't really touch anything until it's dry or it will smear,"

"Ok," Reggie replied. Flynn whispered something in Julie's ear and handed her what looked like a black colored pencil, and they both smiled and looked at Reggie.

"Close your eyes, and don't move," Julie said, and Reggie complied. He felt something move across his eyelid and resisted the urge to flinch. The same thing happened on the other side, and then Julie said, "Ok, you can open now."

Flynn held a mirror up in front of him, and he figured out that Julie had put eyeliner on him. He didn't expect to like it as much as he did.

He asked Julie and Flynn to teach him how to do that himself, and they happily did.

* * *

Alex's anxiety had a field day with his death and becoming a ghost. Everything changing around him was really hard, but he managed. Mostly.

Julie really helped. She introduced him and the guys to life in 2020 and really helped them figure out this whole ghost thing. Well, as much as she could, at least.

The person, or ghost, that helped the most, though, was Willie. He answered all of his questions about being a ghost, and still wanted to hang out with him, even though he was probably being super annoying.

Alex was a little nervous about his crush on Willie. He was mesmerized by his long hair and how sweet he was. But, he didn't want to hurt Luke. Yeah, they had been dead for twenty-five years, but it really only felt like a month or two since they broke up. Luke assured him, though, that he was ok with it and happy for him the night they went to the Hollywood Ghost Club. Besides, someone would have to be blind to not see the chemistry between Julie and Luke.

Alex's favorite memory with Willie was the first time they hung out after the Orpheum when Willie took him up to the Hollywood sign.

"I come up here when I need to get away," Willie explained. "I love just watching the sun come up."

They watched the sunrise in silence, holding hands through the whole thing. Alex was sure that if his heart still beat, it Willie would be able to hear it from where he sat.

Once the sun had finally completely appeared above the horizon, the two boys turned to look at each other. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before closing the distance between them in a kiss.

After that, they met there almost every morning at sunrise and hung out whenever Willie could sneak away from Caleb without being noticed or getting in trouble. Though he was never really around these days, so it wasn't too hard.

Someday, Alex swore, he would get Willie out of whatever deal he made with Caleb. he would free his soul so that they didn't need to worry every time they wanted to see each other. Even though he didn't know how he was damn well going to figure it out.

* * *

Luke decided that becoming ghosts was the best thing that could have happened to him and his bandmates when they died. Getting to spend eternity playing music and hanging out together? Yes, please.

It was also really cool to meet Julie. She could make them be seen by lifers when they played! They got to be in a band again. That's the dream, isn't it?

Julie was also pretty rad on her own. She's so sweet and kind and is an amazing songwriter and singer. And she helped him figure out that he was pansexual, not bisexual. That was awesome.

Ok, so maybe Luke had a bit of a crush on Julie. No biggie.

All he wanted to do on the night that they learned they could touch each other was kiss her. He was holding her face in his hands and it was the perfect moment to do it, but they had bigger things to think about. Like saving Alex and Reggie from being erased from existence.

Again, no biggie.

Ever since that night, though, life had been pretty normal for them (Was it life if they were ghosts? Luke wasn't sure). Julie went to school, they wrote songs and had band practices, and things were pretty calm.

One day, he and Julie were trying to write a song at the piano, but getting nowhere. Julie just kept humming some other melody that Luke didn't recognize.

"If that melody is stuck in your head, let's just work on that song." Luke pointed out.

"It's... that's not..." Julie stuttered.

"Or is that already a song and I just don't know it?" Luke asked.

"No, it's not already a song..." Julie trailed off.

"Just play me what you have, then we can go from there," Luke suggested, and Julie took a deep breath, then put her fingers to the keys.

" _The truth is finally breaking through,  
two worlds collide when I'm with you,   
our voice is rising so so high.   
We come to life when we're   
__in perfect harmony."_ She sang.

Like sat there with his jaw on the floor like an idiot, and Julie just looked at him with a sheepish look on her face.

Like picked his jaw up off the ground and said, "Julie, I-"

Julie interrupted him by kissing him abruptly on the lips. When he didn't kiss her back right away in shock, she pulled back and said, "Luke, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I-"

"No, Julie." He stopped her spiral. "I really liked it."

She smiled softly, and he brushed one of her curls out of her face and pulled her into another sweet kiss. They pulled away and rested their foreheads together and smiled. Luke knew this was exactly where he was meant to be.

* * *

The guys of Sunset Curve were a blessing for Julie. They brought her and her music back to life. And she was so happy she got to see them and hang out with them every day, and that she was so happy they were her family.

She knew that they missed their families, but they had a new family with her, Carlos, and Ray. Her little family was broken and different than most, but it was hers, and she loved it. And she knew they did, too.

**Author's Note:**

> So, that's it! This took me a long time to write (I just had most of the chapters already done when I started posting). I didn't really intend for the last paragraph to sound so much like the ending of Lilo and Stitch, but it just happened.  
> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!  
> Kisses!  
> -Lilluv


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